Electronic Tongue Tastes Wine Variety, Vintage

ScienceDaily (12 Aug 2008) — You don't need a wine expert to identify a '74 Pinot Noir from Burgundy. A handheld "electronic tongue" devised by European scientists will tell you the grape variety and vintage at the press of a button.

Designed for quality control in the field, the device is made up of six sensors which detect substances characteristic of a certain wine variety. Components such as acid, sugar and alcohol can be measured by this detection, and from these parameters it can determine the age and variety of the wine.

Break out the bubbly: White wine may be good for you

NewScientist (13 Nov 2008) — White wine lovers can feel a little less guilty about their habit. New research suggests that white varieties may offer similar heart benefits to red wines.

Rats that were fed white wine as part of their diet suffered less heart damage during cardiac arrest, pills compared to animals fed only water or grain alcohol. These benefits were similar to animals that ingested a red wine or its wonder ingredient found only in grape skin, resveratrol.